2 Peter 2:10-16

Good evening. Last week, we got through the first part of verse 10. We will pick up there are work through the next section tonight.

2 Peter 2:10–16 ESV

10 and especially those who indulge in the lust of defiling passion and despise authority. Bold and willful, they do not tremble as they blaspheme the glorious ones, 11 whereas angels, though greater in might and power, do not pronounce a blasphemous judgment against them before the Lord. 12 But these, like irrational animals, creatures of instinct, born to be caught and destroyed, blaspheming about matters of which they are ignorant, will also be destroyed in their destruction, 13 suffering wrong as the wage for their wrongdoing. They count it pleasure to revel in the daytime. They are blots and blemishes, reveling in their deceptions, while they feast with you. 14 They have eyes full of adultery, insatiable for sin. They entice unsteady souls. They have hearts trained in greed. Accursed children! 15 Forsaking the right way, they have gone astray. They have followed the way of Balaam, the son of Beor, who loved gain from wrongdoing, 16 but was rebuked for his own transgression; a speechless donkey spoke with human voice and restrained the prophet’s madness.

OK, so let’s knock out a few contextual things first.

Again, as we have covered numerous times, the upside of having chapters and verses in Scripture is that it is easier to reference. I am sure that you guys have experienced this. It is much easier to point to a verse of scripture, because it doesn’t matter what “version” you have - whether that is a translation, a brand/type of Bible, or a large/fine print version, when I say “2 Peter 2:10,” you know pretty quickly how to get there.

If we were looking at a book, like “To Kill A Mockingbird,” or something, and I wanted to show you something Scout says to Boo, I would have to preface it with the page number in my copy, and hope that your copy is the same. But with a book like that, there are various versions/editions/printings, and so we have to find ways we can all “get on the same page,” literally.

Now, knowing and understanding that, we also have to remember that these chapter and verse delineations did not come in to play until later; Peter didn’t write in chapter and verse. He just wrote. Scholars later broke down passages into verses and chapters for readability and accessibility.

All that to say, sometimes it makes it difficult because the verses are split across sections.

Verse 10 here is an example. The first half is part of the preceeding thought, and the second half is where we are picking up.

But in order to really understand the verses we will examine tonight, we have to consider what Peter just said, so recap:

Peter just told the church (his audience) that God will not allow the wicked to prosper. He uses a cascading if/then logic pattern to remind the readers that if God, as recorded in Scripture, has brought judgment to the wicked and has rescued the righteous in the past, He will do the same in the present.

Peter is specifically thinking about false teachers that are at that moment attempting to work their way into the churches in Asia Minor.

The first half of verse 10 really hones in the target of God’s wrath: those who indulge in the lust of defiling passion and despise authority.

We talked at length last week about how false teachers are directly associated with sexual immorality in Peter’s writings.

This should make sense to us. What is the imagery that the Old Testament prophets use to shame and remind Israel of their idolatry?

Sexual immorality!

The prophets talk of Israel prostituting itself to the Baals and Ashteroths or Ashuras.

Hosea is told to marry Gomer, who is an adulterous woman and prostitute, to give a picture of what Israel is doing against God.

We, the church, are considered the what?

The Bride of Christ.

If we are worshipping other gods, if we are rejecting Christ and listening to another gospel (as if there was another Gospel!), we are being spiritually immoral, and that is just as grievous as if we are being sexually immoral.

On top of that, the false teachers, especially in the first century when Peter is writing this, is dealing with “religious practice” that included cult prostitutes, orgies, sexually debauched behavior, and other types of passions that were strictly against the holy lifestyle God expects from His people.

These false teachers were very crafty and skillful in their words and arguments, and there were believers who were being led into this lifestyle. So, both spiritually and physically, this sexual immorality is a big part of false teaching and doctrine.

There is also, coupled right alongside that immorality, the rejection or - or despising of - God’s authority.

For anyone to say “No, it’s cool, you do what you feel like doing, follow those passions,” is a rejection of God’s authority over you as an individual, and a call to reject the world and be a slave to righteousness.

So, coming out of that, we see this brazen rejection of God in action and thought.

2 Peter 2:10–11 ESV

10 and especially those who indulge in the lust of defiling passion and despise authority. Bold and willful, they do not tremble as they blaspheme the glorious ones, 11 whereas angels, though greater in might and power, do not pronounce a blasphemous judgment against them before the Lord.

So Peter calls these false teachers “bold and willful.” They are “audacious” with a “presumptuous arrogance.”

They do not have any care for God’s will, only asserting their own agenda and their own impulses.

A true overseer is not supposed to be arrogant. But these false teachers are the opposite.

They also have, at least seemingly, no fear of God or His messengers.

When we see people encounter God or one of His messengers in scripture, what is the usual response?

Trembling…face to the ground…contrition...

Yet these false teachers don’t tremble at all, even as they “blaspheme the glorious ones...”

Now, there is some debate as to who the “glorious ones” are, but many believe that it refers to evil spiritual beings. That would make sense given the parallels in Jude, and the specific use of “angels” immediately following in verse 11. The argument is that Peter uses different terms to signify different subjects. Also, the angels are mentioned in verse 11 in contrast as basically holding their tongues against “them,” and that word “them” seems to imply “the glorious ones.”

So, if we take the “glorious ones” to be evil, or fallen angels, then the false teachers are slandering them, almost as if they are tempting them to respond. Like, when people taunt their enemies because they don’t believe they can do anything. Think Goliath toward the Israelite army before David proves him wrong.

When they disregard and blaspheme these beings:

The ESV Study Bible Chapter 2

they recklessly dismiss any thought that these demonic forces have power or that their willful sins will open them to demonic attack. But good angels, like wise humans, do not take these evil powers lightly.

But looking at verse 11, we see that angels do not do this. Even though they have more “might and power,” they are very careful with their words.

Look at the passage in Jude:

Jude 8–9 ESV

8 Yet in like manner these people also, relying on their dreams, defile the flesh, reject authority, and blaspheme the glorious ones. 9 But when the archangel Michael, contending with the devil, was disputing about the body of Moses, he did not presume to pronounce a blasphemous judgment, but said, “The Lord rebuke you.”

The angels don’t offer careless, blasphemous words. Look at verse 11 of 2 Peter 2 again:

2 Peter 2:11 ESV

11 whereas angels, though greater in might and power, do not pronounce a blasphemous judgment against them before the Lord.

The angels let God do the pronouncing of judgment. Even though they are given much more power than these human false teachers, they do not dare to blaspheme the fallen angels, because that is God’s job, and they are not presuming to do His job for Him.

2 Peter 2:12–13 ESV

12 But these, like irrational animals, creatures of instinct, born to be caught and destroyed, blaspheming about matters of which they are ignorant, will also be destroyed in their destruction, 13 suffering wrong as the wage for their wrongdoing. They count it pleasure to revel in the daytime. They are blots and blemishes, reveling in their deceptions, while they feast with you.

Back to the false teachers. Peter would have been a great Facebook Keyboard Warrior.

I mean, this is a flaming rebuke of the false teachers.

Irrational animals…creatures of instinct…born to be destroyed…talking about things they are ignorant of...

These are not happy words.

I mean, look at these descriptions:

Irrational animals - Peter basically says they don’t even act human. That they act like animals incapable of relating to God.

Creatures of instinct - they are not guided by the Holy Spirit, but instead by impulses. Again, like animals.

Born to be caught and destroyed - even though they act as if they are all powerful, willing to blaspheme powerful evil spirits, they are more like animals that are easily caught in a trap. They cannot escape. They will always (ultimately) fail.

Blaspheming about matters of which they are ignorant - They act as if they know all of these things, but their slanderous words are rooted in ignorance. They do not know of what they speak.

Peter ties back here the destruction of the wicked, which is sure (verses 4-10) with the destruction that is sure against these false teachers.

Verse 13 continues this thought, saying that they will receive the wages of their wrongdoing in their destruction. The language here is judicial in its nature:

Hebrews–Revelation Comment

they are experiencing God’s just condemnation of their sin. This is the “wage” they have earned for their wickedness.

Then we get more description of the false teachers’ actions/motivations.

They consider it pleasure to revel in the daytime.

The word pleasure there is the word hedone, root for the word we know as hedonism, which is this idea of doing whatever brings you the most pleasure.

In the New Testament, this word is always used in a sinful connotation. It represents the pleasure associated with the world:

Hebrews–Revelation Comment

it “represents one of the many forces which belong to the world of unsanctified carnality, which strive against the work of God and His Spirit and which drag man back again into the kingdom of evil.”

They do this in broad daylight. They don’t even pretend to hide their sinful actions.

Then Peter goes on: they are blots and blemishes.

Again, what does Christ do to the bride?

Through His blood, the church is presented without spot or blemish.

Hebrews–Revelation Comment

Whereas Christ died to present the church “without spot [spilon]” (Eph. 5:27), these false teachers are “blots” (spiloi) on the purity of the church. Under the old covenant, “blemishes” (mōmos) disqualified a person from offering sacrifice (Lev. 21:17–23) or an animal from being used for sacrifice (Lev. 22:20–25); likewise, the false teachers are blemishes, making them unfit to lead God’s people. These false teachers are “reveling in their deceptions,” finding joy in the lies they propagate to lead people astray. The false teachers are even so brazen as to do this “while they feast with you.” In the early church, believers gathered regularly to share a meal (Acts 2:42–47), and in the context of this larger meal often celebrated the Lord’s Supper (1 Cor. 11:17–34). The revelry of the false teachers intruded into even the most sacred of celebrations, turning a meal intended to remember the Lord Jesus Christ and anticipate his return into an occasion for immorality and deception.

These false teachers were working to undermine every good Christian practice.

2 Peter 2:14 ESV

14 They have eyes full of adultery, insatiable for sin. They entice unsteady souls. They have hearts trained in greed. Accursed children!

More descriptions of the false teachers:

Eyes full of adultery - Again, we see Peter bring in the sexual immorality of the false teachers. This wasn’t just a small thing. This is a very important part of getting rid of these false teachers. They are constantly looking to seduce or take advantage of others.

Insatiable for sin - they have an incessant appetite for sin. This also, I’m sure, includes their adulterous desires, as well. Their desires for sinful behavior cannot be satiated. They wanted to turn gatherings of the body of Christ into these Greco-Roman banquets that had as much deviant sexual behavior as food.

Entice unsteady souls - For Peter, this is a metaphor he understands. Because, like a fisherman, these false teachers figure out the best bait and lure people into sin who are not yet established in sound doctrine. Just as Jesus made the disciples “fishers of men,” these false teachers want to “fish” believers away from the true teachings of Christ.

Hearts trained in greed - The disciples worked to train their hearts and minds in godliness and gospel faithfulness. These false teachers trained in accumulation of wealth and power. Instead of guarding their hearts, they disregarded Jesus’ teachings on greed and they sought to gain as much as they could, at the expense of others.

Accursed children - Obedience is the number one call of the gospel. To be obedient to Christ, to His Word, to His teaching. They are accursed because they are disobedient to Him.

2 Peter 2:15–16 ESV

15 Forsaking the right way, they have gone astray. They have followed the way of Balaam, the son of Beor, who loved gain from wrongdoing, 16 but was rebuked for his own transgression; a speechless donkey spoke with human voice and restrained the prophet’s madness.

We see here that Peter implies that they know the right way, but they have forsaken it. They have chosen the sinful path. It was an intentional and willful rejection of God, and of Christ.

We know that we, all of us, have this danger. Isaiah says,

Isaiah 53:6 ESV

6 All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned—every one—to his own way; and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all.

But we see the hope in Isaiah. We have turned astray. But God laid on Jesus the iniquity of us all. We who are believers are saved by Christ’s sacrifice.

1 Peter 2:25 ESV

25 For you were straying like sheep, but have now returned to the Shepherd and Overseer of your souls.

But when we turn from Him, when we reject the right way, after knowing and understanding the sacrifice of Christ, we become like these false teachers who knew the good. Who knew the right way. We must always guard our hearts from turning like these from the right way. We “deny the master who bought us” (2 Peter 2:1)

We see a further tying together of greed and sexual immorality in Peter’s use of Baalam here.

In Numbers 22-24, Baalam is hired by the Balak, king of Moab, to pronounce curses on Israel. Balaam initially refuses, then decides to take the money and do the job.

However, God turns the words in his mouth to blessings on Israel, and foretelling the Messiah. We all remember the story, because his donkey kept him from being killed by the angel, and finally speaks to him in “human voice.”

But, since Balaam couldn’t curse Israel, he suggests (Numbers 31) that the Moabites entice the Israelites away from God through…sexual immorality and idolatry.

Balaam became the type, or example, of anyone who would attempt to put a stumbling block in front of God’s people.

Just like the false prophets who led Israel toward destruction in the Old Testament, these false teachers were attempting to take control of the helm and redirect the church toward their own debaucherous version of faith that made them the hero, and allowed them the power to have whatever passion and pleasure they desired.

We see this in our current day with some of the leaders in churches worldwide. They seek wealth, power, prestige. They desire to have a name for themselves.

Unfortunately, in the realm of music, we see it all the time. There are so many controversies in “Christian” music. Folks that are writing these songs that churches are singing, who are now saying they don’t believe a word of it.

Folks trying to make a buck by peddling the name of Jesus.

Folks living blatantly sinful lifestyles and covering it up by calling concerts worship.

That is evil. Whether it is a preacher or a singer, a podcaster or a politician. Doesn’t matter.

If we are seeking anyone’s name above Christ’s, we have it wrong. The only name we need to be proclaiming is that of Christ Jesus, King of Kings and Lord of Lords.

Let’s Pray.